Trailer; All Belongings Towed – Thanks A Lot, Walmart!

So, my trailer has been towed, along with all of my belongings in it, despite the fact that I ostensibly *had permission* to park there as long as I wanted from Walmart’s general manager. This permission was obtained both over the phone and in person.

In the time that I have parked my trailer at Walmart, I have been quiet, courteous, polite, and kept to myself. I have not littered, I have not bothered customers. I have gone to work daily, and with my earnings I have bought products from Walmart nearly on a daily basis. I have purchased food and supplies from Walmart. I have cashed my payroll checks (for a fee) at Walmart. I have a Walmart debit card, which I reload (also for a fee) with MoneyPaks purchased at, yes, Walmart.

On my blog I have previously praised Walmart for their kindness to the homeless, in these rough times where there are so many of them, and the prevailing attitude is “you have to go somewhere else, I don’t know where you’re allowed to go, but you can’t stay here”. I have praised what I assumed was the carrying on of the humanitarian spirit of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Sam Walton was well known as a philanthropic individual, and one who made his parking lots available to nomads and travelers in campers. I was thrilled to see that, whatever other negative press or controversy Walmart might inspire, they were at least providing a very noble service to the homeless, who have overwhelmingly attempted to repay them by patronizing their stores.

So imagine my surprise and frustration when I arrived at Walmart only to find my truck and trailer gone. I frantically called the police department and was redirected to city towing. The dispatcher who answered the phone informed me that it was the weekend and nobody could help me until Monday. Upon calling back today, I was told that it will now cost in the vicinity of $1K to pick up the truck and trailer (they are counting them as two separate vehicles). In addition, I am being charged an additional $80 per day that they are not picked up, for the both of them. Apparently, there is also a $70 DMV lien placed on each vehicle when they haven’t been picked up in 72 hours, so I will have to pay that too upon pickup, despite the fact that I attempted to call over the weekend but was told there was nothing that can be done.

I have contacted Steve Binder of San Diego Homeless Court, hoping that he can point me to some resources in Orange County that can help me. I will also be contacting Walmart HQ to see how much responsibility they plan on accepting in this matter, as I had previously explained my situation to them and been permitted to park in their lot. I hate giving negative press to anyone, but I will definitely make a fuss about this – this is my shelter, these are my belongings. My books. My clothes. My dishes and glassware (which are likely smashed to pieces now, as the trailer was not prepared to be moved and I had not tied down my boxes).

It is a sad day when a business which is the last resort for so many homeless people is willing to alienate those who have been loyal customers for years by having their life stolen from them. Stolen only to be retrieved via a fee of hundreds or thousands of dollars that (hello!) they obviously don’t have.

So, Wally World, see this big middle finger I’m extending? That’s for you, unless you fix the immense damage you have done to my life and my property. If Sam Walton could see Walmart corporate today, he’d be ashamed and disgusted.

That is really unfortunate. Have you tried getting hold of management to ask what happened and why? And yeah, all the things you wrote here about being a patron etc, you need to let them know that.

And if they won’t be reasonable about sorting out fees/costs – I’m figuring they should pay for them or at the least, split the costs with you. Why then, yes, you should wreak havoc down on their capitalist heads!!

I sincerely hope it doesn’t cost you too much or take too much time to resolve. I hate the way there’s a ticking money bomb hanging over your head – do it now or it will cost you more later!!

Thank you guys so much for your kind words and thoughts, they are much appreciated!

MovieDriver, at this point the cost is just way too much for donations to cover I believe, over $1K. Besides, I really hate the feeling of asking for donations and mooching money off others, but thank you so much for wanting to help.

In any event, hopefully Walmart will man up, do the right thing, and take responsibility. Will keep everyone posted, thank you!

I learned in my (corporate) job, that you get everything in writing. Nothing can even be held up in court unless it is in writing…otherwise it is “hear-say”. I hope that Steve Binder can help you and when I read this and your previous tweets, I thought to myself…how can I help her – let pay for part of the impound fees. Just like that person who helped with Fezzick. Let us know in any way we can help!

I’m so sorry that your family has so little regard for basic kindness and caring that they would shun you and abandon you to this kind of existence simply for misguided fears for themselves. This is the kind of situation that clearly shows that the JWs are lacking in anything like the spirit.

Good for you for being strong and doing what you can to rally resources for yourself. It’s really very mean that they towed you – perhaps someone who wasn’t aware of the situation did so? It’s hard, but you’ll probably get more via honey than vinegar.

I have been following your very courageous story for quite some time and never wrote to you. I am sooo sorry this has happened and I agree with MovieDriver. If there is anything I can do to help please let me know. Where are you staying for the meantime? You didn’t say.
Keep strong and positive!

Bri, the sad thing is it was probably not wal-mart at all. Just the local city looking for revenue. Amounts to government protection money. As long as I own this land, you and Matt have a place to stay in Arizona if you so choose.

A quick thought, Bri, before I leave for a few days. Think about setting up a donation portal, either by using one of the little programs (can’t remember the name now) that let you set up a sidebar or just a simple PayPal account if you are able to open one. (If you need access to a PP account, I will give you an address at one of mine.)

You can limit the amount people donate, match it with your own funds, or come up with a “pay it forward” plan for after you have been the beneficiary.

Check out the old Save Karyn website to see how Karyn Bosnak handled a serious debt problem with the kindness of strangers. She may have some ideas that you can use.

I cannot fucking believe this. I just found your site. The only thing I can say, Is after you pay the probably 1.5K to get your stuff, I hope you can equate it to rent for what has it been 5 months or something? Parking lots are ALWAYS precarious, no matter what someone says, esp. in these times and ESPECIALLY with nothing in WRITING.

It was the luck of the draw you were there that long, I cannot belive that manager didn’t WARN YOU!!

You need to go to media and give them a phone number for people to call and protest and get your stuff back. Try to cut a deal with the tow company, tell them how you will advertise their kindness if they cut you a deal, etc., Find a sponsor and go to media.

The times are all about governments generating revenue off of peoples misfortunes. We are currently in the process of printing up bumper stickers:

That is just disgusting! You had permission, what the fuck went wrong? Good luck on getting to the bottom of this, and also to getting the funds together to get Your Own Stuff back! I think the Paypal thing is a great idea! Will Twitter about this, so hopefully more people can support you.

In a previous post it said you were living in a trailer near where fezzik was boarded. Is this in the walmart? Or had you moved and left your trailer at the walmart. Maybe they thought it was abandoned because you hadn’t been there in a while?

I can promise you that I will never spend another dollar at Wal-Mart, I can promise you that I will link your blog to as many sites as I can in hopes that more people will see your plight and assist you. I can promise you I will send something to you to help you.

From one homeless person to another, allow me to provide some advice learned from experience.

Wal Mart, from what I’ve heard, leaves it up to individual store managers as to whether or not they allow overnight parking in their lot. Many do but some do not.

Sometimes it is abused.

The Wal Mart in Mesa, Arizona allowed overnight parking. But people in large buses towing cars, the ‘snowbirds’, would leave their buses parked there 24/7 and be out and about in their cars all day. I counted 17 buses one night. Some were staying for three and four weeks without ever moving their buses! The city finally fined the Wal Mart manager $1,500 for operating a campground without a permit and that’s when the no-overnight parking signs went up. The manager had no other choice.

No matter where you park at night, don’t abuse the privilege. Get up in the morning and drive to a different business, like Home Depot or the park, or the public library and park there for the day, then move back to your ‘overnight’ lot.

It’s also a good idea to spend only a few nights in a row there, then spend a few nights on the other side of town, so you are not parking in the same place every night. Don’t let people notice you, know what I mean?

I don’t like leaving my vehicle (my house) anywhere if I am not there because of thieves who might break in. I don’t have a lot to steal but what I have means a lot to me.

It was a chump move for them to tow you, especially when you had permission. That’s just one more reason why I stay away from large metro areas (and California in general). They are much more strict and tow-happy.

I once stopped at a Chicago Wal Mart and prepared lunch in my kitchen. I wasn’t parked for 5 minutes before security banged on my door demanding to know what I was doing there. I told them I was getting ready to eat lunch and they tersely told me that if I wasn’t shopping I couldn’t park there.

I replied that I was going to be shopping after lunch (I needed a few things), but since they were such assholes about it, I’ll take my business elsewhere, and I did.

Bri,
I stumbled across an article about you and followed the links to this site. Please know that I have you in my prayers, for your safety and for all your needs be met. I believe in the power of prayer and will keep you in prayers. The world is a mad place and is only going to get worse. I will be praying for other places for you to be able to park and live besides Walmart. There is a very dark side to Walmart that is very worth checking into. From the looks of your site, you are lacking in some knowledge of what is going on right now in the world. If you are not seeking Jesus, I pray you will soon. It is very dangerous times and I have so much respect for you in your hard work. May God keep you safe and healthy.

walmart is so full of crap. they don’t care about anyone’s feelings, not even their employees. all they are concerned about is making a quick buck. if you had arrangements with the manager i would go to them and see what’s up, why did they have it towed. knowing them, they’re going to quickly blame someone else and say it’s out of their hands. my prayers are with you.

I wrote them a strong worded letter and they sent me advertisements. Ass holes. I havent shopped there for 2 years. After they stiffed a friend of mine out of 2 weeks worth of overtime. Lawsuit pending. They suck.

What a disgusting story, WalMart should be ashamed. I did write to them via their feedback page to let them hw wrong this is. Hopefully they will read it and do the right thing. Hang in there, glad to hear of your redcent good fortune though. Keep up the good work!

Don’t get mad get even, That normally what I do, A few years ago Ikea screwed me over an exchange that was less then 24 hours after I made the purchase. I had the recipt and everything was brand new no damage at all but because I opened the box they wouldn’t give me store credit an exchange or my money back I was so pissed I left store, came back one month later and caused an equal or more amount of damage in the restroom where there are NO CAMERAS !!!!!!!!!!!!! Broke the procelin toilet with a hammer and walked out Yes I left the Hammer and made sure my finger prints weren’t on the hammer before during or afterwards. That’s what I call JUSTICE………

You can buy a 2.99 hammer at HomeDepot and BAM!!!!!!! One good wack make sure to where glasses for saftey and be sure noboby is in the restroom this whole operation take only 1-5 seconds. NO SINKS!!!!! Toilets equal No Wittnesses

What Walmart did to your truck is no big surprise to me. I lived in my car for a 9 month period two years ago. I had a job, but no place to stay. I parked at my former apartment complex for awhile, but when the police were called to check me out, I moved to Wal-mart’s parking lot for a little while. After about a month or two Walmart called the police to check me out. Apparently it’s ok for people vacationing in the summer to park their R.V.’s there, but they don’t want people “living” in the parking lots. Never mind that I was so much a regular customer that my paychecks may as well have come made out to Wal-Mart. Needless to say, I shop there much less now and avoid it when ever I can.
(Sorry I originally posted this in under the wrong posting. New here)

What a wretched thing to do! Each time I hear a WAL-MART horror story, I wonder if Wal-mart can be any more pathetic.

You’re struggling to pull things together and just when things are looking up and it seems like you can finally stop treading water for a moment to catch your breath, WAL-MART pulls the rug out from beneath your feet!

It’s bad enough that WAL-MART treats employess so poorly without having to go after the people who keep them in business.

i truely understand wot a load of assholes………….if lifes not hard enough.just needed a place you were even depending on handouts like some…………..last year my life was great i was a sole parent of 4 kids i raised them alone had a beautiful home and a car everything………then i had a fatel accident lost my life broke my neck and was told i would never walk or talk again,my ex came cleared off with my kids my home my car and left me dying ing hospital penniless.i am british so is he trouble is he has taken my kids to atlanta and now refuses to return my girls,he has sexually abused me and his son,he has attacked me guess what this guy is the vice president of telesoft technoligies in atlanta.today i am walking and stuggling with heartache but honey keep going there will be help,i am on your side people are so cruel.best luck paula whiteley.

sorry to hear what you’re going through. I’ve been there, done that. At least you’re still young and you will find a job soon. I was recently working at Circle K part time, the manager, a woman from Egypt, was verbally abusing me constantly, calling me fat, stupid, and so on. I have a 2 yr college degree, i speak 3 languages. One day I happened to mention that I couldn’t understand her english very well, you’d think that I had said something bad about her mother, she lost it. She left me a message on my cell phone that I wasn’t allowed to come back to her store anymore. On top of that, she told me that the reason stores like Circle K hire people from middle east is b/c they’re better employees than americans? How do you like that? Anyway I am moving north to live with my daughter. I have some stories about my homelessness so I know where you’re coming from. Good luck to you. I know you will make it.

You are not homeless. You have a home. Homeless people live in downtown shelters where there is no privacy or they sleep directly on the street. You have a place that is considered by many people a home and would love to live in one. You don’t really know the truth about real homelessness. True homeless people have no one to help them. It seems you could have parked your home at your friend’s house all along but chose not too probably out of pride which is the same reason you won’t accept donations. A lot of homeless people struggle with drugs and mental illness and deserve a hand up just as much as you. I think your making the hand into an evil instrument to belittle your mother is in poor taste.

The federal definition of homelessness does indeed cover those living out of trailers and other habitats unsuitable for long-term living. You can read more about the federal definition of homelessness here. http://www.hud.gov/homeless/definition.cfm.

Clearly, living out of a trailer with no utilities, facilities, or stability is not suitable as a permanent and sustainable lifestyle. You might ask if the thousands of individuals staying in homeless shelters are truly homeless – after all, they too have a roof over their head and a basic form of shelter, do they not? Also, as has been pointed out, for 6 months I have not (and still am not) staying in a legal, up-to-code domicile. This means that my situation is tenuous and precarious at best.

I am only one aspect of homelessness. Clearly, as I have always maintained, there are those who are in more dire circumstances than me and are in need of proper assistance and treatment. I share my experiences with homelessness to help bring awareness to ALL homeless individuals of various backgrounds, and that includes those struggling with drug abuse and mental illness, as well as those living in shelters and rough sleeping. ALL homeless individuals should have access to the help that they need, and should be regarded as people, rather than as “bums”. The fact that there are varying degrees of struggles and resources that different individuals have access to, however, does not make any one more or less homeless than the other.

And no, I was not offered the option of parking at my friend’s home when this all began. In fact, at that time I did not even know the woman. Pride may be among my weaknesses, but it would seem that it is to the benefit of the many homeless individuals in more dire straits than I, as it also kept me from taking up a spot in the already overflowing homeless shelters that may have gone to someone who needed it far more. It would seem that I am in an unfortunate bind. If I accept donations (after much pressing, I might add), I am a lazy, mooching e-panhandler. If I do not, I am too proud and not allowing others to help me. Oh well, there will always be naysayers.

I’m afraid I don’t particularly feel the need to defend myself on the use of the finger to belittle my mother. What can I say? The woman beat the crap out of me for 18 years, turned a blind eye to my sexual abuse, and is a diagnosed bipolar who won’t take meds, broke umbrellas and cutting boards over my head, and who harped on me for finally getting the therapy I so desperately required. Much as I love her, I’m afraid I occasionally feel the need to flip her off. My apologies if that offends you.

First off, let me just say that we have much in common. I am 24 years old. I work 2 crap jobs making crappy money 65 hours a week just to get by (in addition, I got hired by these jobs in this recession) Also, I have 2 dogs I have adopted. My mother committed suicide and I don’t know who my dad is. I too have an English born boyfriend who lives in Scotland. He is currently out here on the Visa Waiver program for 2 1/2 months. Good luck trying to get him over here in the US to stay with you. Your biggest problem will be showing financial stability. As you have to show your past 3 years of tax returns. I make 24K/ yr and I can’t sponsor my boyfriend. And due to your family problems I am assuming you will not have a co-sponsor. My boyfriend doesn’t have a job and hasn’t had one for two years. But he ISN’T homeless in the UK due to the benefits they get there. It is nearly impossible to be homeless in the UK. Even though I have had to couch surf and move across the country a couple times to escape an abusive boyfriend I have never been homeless. You had unemployment, you have a job now (from what I gather from your blog, but I could have been reading it wrong) yet you choose to live in trailer and motels instead of renting a room from a house. Why? I know there are rooms to rent in CA for less than $400 a month.

Also, I am at a loss for why you choose to stay in the parking lot of a walmart and why you are surprised that they towed you? I mean Walmart was born on the idea of screwing over America! They go into small towns and run out small businesses for goodness sake! The whole trailer idea was so that families could stay the night in the parking lot during road trips. Not so homeless people could live there while they save money for a mortgage.

What I also don’t understand is why you are saving up for a mortgage in the first place? I would NEVER dream of saving for a mortgage and trying to buy a home at this point in life. It’s about being stable now and working towards the future.

Thanks for reading my rant. It’s just that when I look at your situation I see many similarities to my life (even down to the red hair). I just read your blog and I don’t understand some of your choices.

Bri, Three years ago I was homeless with no family support, which I still don’t have( for you, Nancy) Granted, I was living in a bashed up truck which provided shelter, but I parked at WalMart in WA for 3 nights until they left a notice on my windshield that if I didn’t move my truck, it and the contents were to be towed that AM. I woke up when the towing company jiggled the truck. Like LarryM said, move your car each day-go somewhere else in the day, take showers at the community center(a month pass is $30) I spent my time at Starbuck’s and the public library using their free wifi connection. I have 2 degrees and had a career in nursing,but could never find a job with no permanent address, applying for Disability was my last hope. Living in a shelter was never an option for me with 2 cats. I applied for and got a grant for permanent housing, but still am job hunting, so good luck, Bri-you can do it-all it takes is a little luck and hope.

a) Yes, I had made it clear that I would be staying for months. The manager I spoke to was kind and sympathetic to my plight. She also acknowledged that there were several other long-term homeless residents and they had not had problems with any of us as we tended to keep to ourselves and remain unobtrusive.

b) No, I was not given several days’ advance warning, or any at all.

Please take the time to learn all of the facts before you rush to conclusions.

So, when our very own Street Voices contributor, Brianna, who also blogs at Girls Guide To Homelessness first became homeless herself and in possession of the trailer she had recently inherited when her biological father had committed suicide, she decided to make use of this Walmart policy for herself. However, she also went one step further. Having confirmed with the local PD that there was no prohibitive ordinance in place in her area, she took the additional step of contacting store management via the telephone to confirm that they had no objection to her use of their facilities.

She found she was not alone. It was immediately apparent that there were quite a number of other homeless individuals who were also sleeping in their cars, RVs and trailers in the same parking lot. She had been staying there for just a few weeks, however, when she returned one day to find a notice requesting her to move had been attached to her vehicle. A number of the other residents received the same notice. This came as a surprise of course as she had gone to the trouble of obtaining permission directly. The following day, Brianna and another homeless individual sought a personal meeting with store management.

The outcome of this meeting was that they were told they should not worry. They were told by the store management that every now and then corporate would come by and ask them to issue these notices to discourage long-term stays. They were told that they never had any issues with the homeless people who stayed there since they all seemed to keep to themselves, bothered no one and spent money in the store. In short, they were told it was ok for them to stay and that no one was going to be towed or any other action taken against them.

On 13th August, they towed and impounded Brianna’s truck and trailer anyway.

Yes, exactly, so I’m not sure which part you’re unclear on. The towing notice was posted in mid-March (right after I first became homeless), and I was told in person to disregard it by Walmart management. I fail to understand how, exactly, that is advance notice that they were going to tow me 5 months later (before which, I might add, no notice was posted – I checked).

I’m not quite sure why you’re here in any event, either than to pick a fight (perhaps you work for Walmart or their corporate office?) but you won’t find one here. Walmart store management gave me permission, twice, to stay before towing me without notification or provocation. Brea PD backed me against Walmart corporate’s assertion that they were just following city ordinance (there is no such ordinance); they realized their error and returned my items to me. That’s the end of it. I don’t have any further beef with them, or with you.

I can empathize with your outrage and frustration having your things towed from Wal-Mart.

A few days ago, I found out that all of my belongings had been were placed into garbage bags, and thrown into the very same flooded garage outside the house I had rented from a CMHA (Community Mental Health Agency) that was funded, in part by SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) HUD (Housing and Urban Development) and special funds under the Recovery Act of 2009. I used to work as for SAMSHA, and I know enough about the law to realize that the lack of supervision and intervention at the house I rented is not only against the rules, but should be considered a crime against humanity.

The “landlord” did nothing to prevent or intervene and actually encouraged such behavior as he knew it would force me out of the house that was clearly a threat to my safety and well being. The three women who should be jailed for the countless times they complicated the situation by locking me out, unplugging my phone, disconnecting my computer cables, and destroying my property “just for fun.”
What he did take issue with was the very fact that I was writing about my circumstances, especially the more disturbing times when I was when I watched the other residents become violent, and dangerous towards each other, and in time towards me. One nearly assaulted with me with waffle iron; One locked during a tornado warning, and one was simply too intoxicated to make a telephone call when five shots were fired down the street. To prevent from calling mobile crisis to intervene, me personal telephone was disconnected, the electric cables and power cords were unplugged and ultimately broken, and when I needed to call 911 even the house phone had disconnected by the woman who claims ownership by proxy of the entire household. Yeah, I’m the problem.

Perhaps they should probably know exactly how the the house is “helping” the homelesss. Anyone interested, feel free to link my blog to see exactly how that grant money is being spent. I’d like see the step up to help me move, and “transition from homeless.” http://thepowersthatbeat.blogspot.com

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